The Regnum Christi Movement offers its members some guidelines of a gospel-based spirituality as an ideal of Christian life. The spiritual path that Regnum Christi members walk mainly consists in knowing, loving, imitating, and proclaiming Christ. This is the path and these are the goals.

Below, we offer some resources that can help nurture the spiritual life of Movement members and of any Christian.

Jesus went to the district of Tyre. He entered a
house and wanted no one to know about it,
but he could not escape notice. Soon a woman whose
daughter had an unclean spirit heard about him. She came
and fell at his feet. The woman was a Greek,
a Syrophoenician by birth, and she begged him to
drive the demon out of her daughter. He said to her,
“Let the children be fed first. For it is
not right to take the food of the children
and throw it to the dogs.” She replied and said to
him, “Lord, even the dogs under the table eat
the children’s scraps.” Then he said to her, “For saying
this, you may go. The demon has gone out of
your daughter.” When the woman went home, she found the
child lying in bed and the demon gone.

Introductory
Prayer:Lord, I come before you today to learn the
lessons of faith that you want to teach me. I
want to learn to be patient when you test
my faith. I know you want only to make it grow
and bear more fruit in my life. In this prayer
I desire to trust and love you as you
deserve to be loved by me.

Petition: Lord,
make my faith vibrant and persevering.

1. Seek Ye Higher
Gifts: Our Lord is close to us in our
sufferings. In this Gospel, a daughter suffered from a demonic
possession, and her mother suffered with her. What most strikes
us about this passage, however, is that Our Lord
initially adds to the mother’s suffering by rebuking her. It
seems so out of character, so foreign to the one
who is “meek and humble of heart,” so unlike
the gentle Jesus who is ever-sensitive to the needs
of others. Yet Our Lord was about to confer upon her
the greatest gift that could befall any human being:
the gift of salvation represented by the healing of
her daughter. Because the gift was so great, the vessel
that was to contain it needed to be prepared.

2. Feelings,
Nothing More Than Feelings: It is important to remember
two principles about our feelings. First, we are not to
treat them as if they were the infallible compass of
our spiritual lives. Second, their lack of support does not
mean that Our Lord is abandoning us. We can easily
forget these two principles and blindly follow our feelings,
persuasions and seductions. We can wrongly confuse feelings with
faith. This believing woman beautifully shows the attitude we
must maintain. Her example of humility in the face of Jesus’
seemingly hostile rebuke truly astounds us. No rebellion, no complaints,
no resentments, no pity party. She remains determinedly fixed on
Christ. She maintains a spirit of humility and faith in
him who has the power to deliver her daughter
from the devil. Am I capable of persisting in my
prayer even when it seems Our Lord is turning
a deaf ear?

3. A Cathedral of Faith for All to
See: If only we could learn from her example! With
such a firm foundation to build on, Jesus draws
out of her an even greater faith — as large
as a cathedral for the entire world to see. We
need to ponder and contemplate the mysterious and wise
ways of Our Lord when we suffer from his rebukes. We
must hold fast to humility, mindful that we are
creatures always loved by Christ, our Good Shepherd. He promised
he would not leave us orphans. Why then such little faith?

Conversation with Christ: Lord, let me not confuse
faith with feelings. Let me not confuse trust with mere
sentiment. Never let me reduce my relationship with you
to feelings, no matter how pleasurable or worthy I think
they may be at that moment. Help me to remain
humble in my dispositions and firm in my convictions, seeking
only to trust, love and please you.

Resolution:
When I experience pleasant, worthy or helpful feelings,
I will thank and praise God, and I will channel
these feelings toward what is more relevant: living out
the deeper virtue of faith.

The daily meditation is a service of Regnum Christi that offers people a Gospel reflection through e-mail. You can view the weekly meditation on this link or listen the podcast version here.